Tag: belly dancer

No, I didn’t forget about this, and l didn’t fall off the Whole30 bandwagon. I can proudly say that my name is Lindsy and I haven’t had sugar in 29 days. Also, I’m more than half way through the program since I restarted it. This week has been super busy because I’ve been at a belly dance festival/ competition!

(Me and one of my troupe mates)

Yesterday I danced for 7 hours and today I’ve been exhausted! But l still wanted to drop a note here. I managed to stay compliant throughout the festival by making all the food l was going to eat out in advance. I made broccoli and asparagus frittata for breakfasts and roasted root vegetables with nuts and seeds for lunches and dinners. I also took some walnuts to snack on. I was very satisfied with my food, though I have to say dancing 7 hours made me really hungry and I dropped the store for extra snacks before the night was over.

I’ll write more about my meal plan this week and how it went tomorrow, after l finish my last 6 hours of dance workshops. Need to get to sleep so I can be up bright and early. Good night!

I am one week away from participating in my first ever competition. I’m competing in two categories, as a soloist and as a member of a dance troupe. I am nervous, but also really excited. I’m getting down to the nitty gritty of planning my hair and makeup, I just got my costume fitted, and have plans for a mani pedi spa day to prepare. Oh, and of course, dancing every damn day.

I have a Russian dance teacher, who is very sweet and also has very high Russian dance teacher standards. I know I’ve done well when she doesn’t tell me I’ve made many mistakes. So it means all the more to me for her to tell me that she thinks I have really good chances in this competition, and that I’ve gotten much better.

So what does any of this have to do with Whole30?

Of course, Whole30 really isn’t just about food, it’s about lifestyle. That includes things like stress, sleep, and exercise. Dancing has been my favourite exercise hands down, for so many reasons. Belly dancing has been a huge part of my life for years, and one of my favourite things about it is that I’ve seen dancers of all shapes, sizes, ages, and genders. Once I realized that no one was asking me to be 90 lbs and that I was actually good at this dance, my self esteem shot through the roof. It would be easy to forget how much exercise it actually is were it not for the fact that I’m kind of a swamp monster and I sweat profusely. I used to do yoga a few times a week too, which I loved dearly. I’ll get back to it when we can spare the extra $100 for the unlimited monthly pass at the place I was going at.

Anyway, I digress. On a more practical level, being in the competition next week means I’m going to have to take some extra food prep precautions. The competition is part of a 4 day long convention, of which I’m going to 3 full days. That means I need to be prepared to pack about 5 meals while I’m there, because I’m almost positive there will be nothing there that I can eat. I also have to make sure the food is substantial enough to get me through multiple hours of dancing every day. Energy snacks may be in order for this one.

I’m open to suggestions, as always! In the meantime, I’ll be over here making faces at myself in the mirror to practice my stage face. Game ON.